


Amygdala

by orionsbelt



Category: iZombie (TV)
Genre: F/M, Ravioli, izombie - Freeform, liv x ravi, ravi x liv
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-09
Updated: 2015-05-09
Packaged: 2018-03-29 16:12:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3902578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orionsbelt/pseuds/orionsbelt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ravi is turned into a zombie by the rat bite he received and, with (a lot of) help from Liv, learns how to live as a member of the undead. Expect angst and fluff. Currently a work in progress.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Liv had had a good day. Good enough, considering the brain-craving undeadness that was now her usual routine.

Eating was now a bigger part of her life than she ever thought could be possible: every action she exerted, every ounce of energy she burned, every starved moment without a _human brain_ bringing her steps closer to exacting cold-blooded murder out of sheer necessity.

She tried to remain optimistic.

Ravi helps.

She had worked alone in the morgue all day. No Ravi to far too avidly observe her meals and take notes on her Zombie-isms. She assumed he was occupied, sick maybe. Perhaps his hypothetical super-rich British aunt died and left her giant expansive wealth to his name. She had sent him a short text earlier in the day _– hey where r u?? its not the same looking at dead guys without u_ :’( – but hadn’t really expected a response. Then lunch rolled around without even the tiniest Ravi-sized blip on the radar. By that point she was near constantly checking her phone for messages, making sure it was turned up all the way – considering the possibility that she’d accidently eaten another crazy-maternal-instincts brain.

The white loop of her earphone cable bounced against her jacket as she walked swiftly to her apartment. The streetlights overhead were flickering but resolute, the blurred white-red glare reflecting in the shallow puddles in the dips of the road. Keys in hand and boots clicking quietly in a slow rhythm, the pale glow of the moon bleached the damp corners of walls and windows into a white-greyish sheen. While working at the morgue had its obvious Zombie-related benefits, it sometimes meant, for use of a less punny phrase, working the graveyard shift. This was such a night, and Liv was alone and relatively content, having snacked on the hot-sauce drenched remnants of a recent addition to the morgue before locking up. Yes, being a Zombie wasn’t exactly a walk in the undead park, but she was coping. She had methods, and friends. _A_ friend. It was enough.

Her keys twisted in her hands as she approached the familiar door to her flat. If she looked directly up past the lip of the first window, she could catch the homely glow of the tall lamp in her living room; Peyton was probably home working on some client files for an upcoming case-

Movement, behind her.

The hair on the back of her neck, suddenly raised – a hand on her shoulder, a grasping tug-

A intake of breath, her hand whipping round out of reflex, adrenaline pulsing-

The hand letting go, the person stepping back, frightened, reluctant.

“Oh god, Liv, something _happened_ , okay?”

“Wha-“

He began to pace back and forth in a short repetitive line. He was worrying at his nails with his teeth, unfocused and practically tripping over himself.

 “I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to tell you, but here I am because _who else am I supposed to go to about…this?!”_ He stuttered, hurriedly gesturing to himself.

“Slow dow-“

“I screwed up, Liv, fuck, I am _seriously fucked_ -“

His eyes were wild, frightened. There was a sunken quality about them, a reddish bone-thin weariness.

It was dark out with nothing but the porch light and the pale moon for illumination, but his face was recognisable enough.

_“Ravi?”_

“Liv, _I need your help_.”

“Woah, okay, what the hell happened? Are you okay? You look…well…”

“Dead?”

His voice held a painful bitter twinge as he turned to face her. The look alone was enough to practically freeze the dead blood in her veins.

Part of his head reflected differently in the dim light – it moved out of sight as he restlessly paced, but what Liv could see caught her eye. Boldly stepping toward Ravi, she stopped him with a gentle hand on his shoulder. She looked him in the eye, trying to calm him, raising her eyebrows to ask a wordless _is this okay?_ At this he stilled, eyes gaining a little focus _,_ now biting his lip to negate the need to tear his nails to shreds.She threaded her other hand through part of his hair, eyes intently drawn to a streak she hadn’t noticed before.

(An unconscious part of Liv noticed that this was probably the closest they had ever been; an unconscious part of Ravi noticed how nice her hand running through his hair felt).

Not dwelling on how she probably count his eyelashes from this distance, she parted his dark hair to find what she had noticed in the yellow glow of the porch light. She gently twisted the lock of white hair between her fingers.

“Oh God, Ravi, no, _nonononono_ -“

“I don’t know what happened, one minute I’m holding the Evil Killer Zombie rat taking a _little_ blood sample and the next minute I’m bleeding and feeling dizzy and my head feels weird and _what was the bloody point in the gloves anyway?”_

Liv pulled her hand away and staggered for a few steps before resting against the nearest wall. She slid down until she bumped unceremoniously down onto the ground. The grass was damp beneath her but it failed to register with her.

“Ravi, this isn’t want I wanted for you. I never wanted anyone to have to go through this… _disease_.”

She glanced up at him, neck titled back and eyes up toward the night sky, a noticeable wetness beginning to form them that she unsuccessfully attempted to blink away. Ravi didn’t think he’d ever seen her so dejected.

He lifelessly wandered over and slid down next to her. Liv absently noticed his still slightly human warmth on her side as he sighed, shoulders going slack.

“Liv, what am I gonna do?”

He placed in hands on his knees as he pulled them toward him – the bite on his finger was small, but a little residual blood was visible. He caught her staring and chuckled dryly.

“How long has it been? Since the bite?”

He shrugged tiredly, eyes unfocusing again.

He rubbed his forehead with his unbitten hand. “Uh, I don’t know, maybe forty-five minutes?” His voice cracked slightly near the end – Liv tried not to focus on it.

“Heads up, from one zombie to another: tonight is probably gonna suck for you.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is where it gets angsty. I doubt it will ever get so dramatic in the show, but it's cool to explore it through this.

“Well, you weren’t lying.”

“Hm?”

“I said _, you weren’t lying_.”

“About what?”

“About tonight, sucking for me. I must say, you really were spot on with that.”

Liv sighed and continued rifling through the fridge. She made sure to always hide it behind other lunches and whatever Ravi kept in there, right at the back. It was impossible to attempt to hide human brains in her refrigerator at home; Peyton would probably ask her a million questions about her mysterious Tupperware box, and Peyton getting involved in all this was the last thing Liv needed.

Liv rolled her eyes over to where Ravi was slumped over a desk chair. She shrugged her whole body in a limp _eh, what are you gonna do?_

Ravi smiled weakly.

In the soft but bright light of the fridge, his eyes were a raw shade of red; the white streak in his hair completely noticeable and slightly comedic in its contrast. She had never pictured Ravi this way, never imagined it would happen, believed that she would find a way to prevent it somehow if the risk ever arose. But she hadn’t, and here he was, red-eyed and (slightly) white haired, looking half-dead already.

She removed a small paper bag from the open fridge with _Liv’s Lunch_ handwritten on the uppermost side. Closing the fridge door and drawing the blinds in their small office (just to be on the safe side) she rolled a chair towards where Ravi was slumped and sat down on it.

“Right, I’m gonna be honest – I’m not entirely sure what is gonna happen next.”

Ravi groaned.

“Due to the fact that I was completely unconscious during my first night as a Zombie, I can only go on what Blaine told me before he went all dark-side-“

“Which may be _total lies-_ “

“Yes, maybe, but it’s better than nothing.”

The walk back to the morgue had been almost totally silent. She had kept her eye on him; thankfully there were few people around to notice one small incredibly pale woman and one taller tired looking man with a funny streak in his hair make a late-night trip to a police morgue. Ravi had immediately passed out in the office while Liv scouted the area for anybody who might accidentally stumble in to Zombie 101.

“Were you this bloody tired?”

“I was _unconscious_.”

“Yeah, but I mean the day after.”

“I couldn’t move for like two days. I think it has something to do with metabolism? Uh, your cells are...” Liv swallowed, pausing for a moment. “…Dying. Your body is reacting to the virus; it doesn’t know what’s happening, so it’s trying to fight it. That’s my guess anyway, and it’s an educated one.”

“Huh. If I wasn’t so preoccupied with current events I’d be taking notes.”

“Ravi, If you want what you’re feeling to go away, you’re gonna need to-“

“ _Don’t say it-_ “

“-eat brains.”

“GAAAH.” Ravi swirled around in his chair so his back was facing Liv, his head hanging upside down over the back of the chair.

“It was hard for me too!”

Ravi shifted himself, leaning an arm on the backrest of his chair, his head upright, fleetingly alert.

“I can’t do it, Liv! Maybe I can work on a cure, right now, start testing the rats again-“

Liv sighed; she’d heard – no, _felt_ all this before. “Look, if you don’t eat this now, that exhaustion and hunger is just gonna get worse and worse until you end up like some mindless zombie in an even more mindless horde! Eating a little brain now is worth it in the long run, believe me.”

Ravi linked his hands together and stared at them, pushing his fingers tightly together.S

“C’mon, it’s not that bad. Honestly. I’m here, I can help you! Who better than the world’s only crime-fighting zombie to make sure you’re okay?”

Ravi paused, glancing up and finding a strange comfort in Liv’s face.

“FINE. Okay, fine! Just…” He smiled, small but sincere. “…let’s pretend, for my sake, that what I am about to eat is something completely different from what it actually is.”

Liv smiled in return, equal in its sincerity. Yes, he was shaken (and for the record so was she), but it was reassuring for him to make light of the situation. Part of her knew he was doing it for her benefit, and she couldn’t help but feel a little beat of joy at his concern.

She took out the small Tupperware container from the paper bag, slowly unclipping the lid.

“I had been saving this for work tomorrow, but desperate times call for desperate measures.”

Ravi tried to conceal his obvious gagging.

“Ravi, c’mon! You’re not making this easy! You eat food around the bodies _all the time_!”

“Maybe not to you, but to me there is a very clear defined line between eating lunch near a dead body and the lunch _being_ the dead body.”

“It’s mixed in with the noodles. There’s literally half a bottle of tabasco on it! Even if you taste something, it won’t be… _it._ ”

Liv held out the box for Ravi to take, grabbing a pair of chopsticks from the paper bag before tossing it into the trash. She stuck the chopsticks into the Tupperware, trying to make it as appetising as a Tupperware box half-filled with cold spicy brain noodles could possibly be. Which, surprisingly, isn’t very much.

Ravi swivelled back round to face Liv and glumly took the Tupperware in both hands. He peered worriedly down at it before looking back up at Liv, then down again.

“It’s not gonna bite you, Ravi. Rather, the other way round. Hopefully.”

He swallowed and brandished the chopsticks like tiny wooden swords. He twirled a large loop of noodles round them, trying not to notice the small chunk of brain hidden within it. He prepared to take a bite. For a bizarre _brief_ moment, Liv felt strangely proud. _Brief_ is stressed, because within two seconds of the poorly hidden brain being anyway near Ravi’s face, he almost threw up.

“NO NOPE, I’M SORRY, I CAN SEE BRAIN, _HUMAN BRAIN_ , AND NOPE NOT NO NOT FOR ME GOODBYE.”

“RAVI, YOU DIDN’T EVEN TRY IT!”

“THAT IS HUMAN BRAIN, LIV, FROM A DEAD BODY, AND I AM QUITE SURE I AM NOT READY TO BECOME A FULL CANNIBAL JUST YET.”

“HOW CAN IT BE CANNIBALISM IF YOU’RE NOT EVEN HUMAN?!”

“BECAUSE I _AM_ HUMAN”

“NO, RAVI, YOU’RE NOT.”

“I AM _HUMAN_.” His voice cracked; was he crying?

Liv’s face fell. She stepped backwards. He moved forward, towards her. Was she shocked, afraid? Why?

“Ravi, I need you to calm down.”

“I WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE _THIS_! THIS IS _YOUR_ FAULT! YOU MADE ME LIKE THIS!”

“Please, Ravi, just relax. It’s okay- “

“IT’S NOT OKAY! IT’LL NEVER BE ‘OKAY’ AGAIN BECAUSE NOW I’M A _MONSTER, LIKE YOU!”_

Ravi glimpsed himself in a reflection on the office window – something mindless and dead flickered briefly behind his eyes. It terrified him.

He blinked a few times, slowly. He was hungry. So hungry. The rage faded.

He couldn’t bring himself to look at her face.

“Liv, I’m-“

“I’m going out for some air. 5 minutes, Ravi. If I hear a single noise from you that isn't that brain being eaten then you're gonna be _really_ sorry.”

“Liv, wait, please, I’m sorry!”

She grabbed her jacket from her chair and quickly moved past him, a pale blur, he went to grab his jacket, he had to say–

"Stay in the office

She turned swiftly around. Her eyes were fire.

_“Don’t follow me.”_


End file.
